‘Everybody is pulling together in the Lowcountry,’ as storm-savvy Beaufort residents prepare

Karl Puckett
·2 min read

Beaufort’s getting ready just in case Idalia hits hard.

“Just taking down anything that can fly off,” said Abraham Saunderson Tuesday morning.

Saunderson is a co-owner of The Lowcountry Cider Company, a popular coffee spot on the city’s famous Waterfront Park on the Beaufort River, which was calm the day before Idalia is expected to hit the South Carolina Coast. Saunderson and general manager Hope Tolman were battening down items that the wind could blow through windows, like plants hanging on the porch.

Preparations were being made across the city, said Neal Pugliese, a consultant with the city who oversees major stormwater improvements.

Depending on how the storm pans out, portions of Beaufort streets with historically poor drainage could see water from Idalia, which is expected to hit South Carolina’s coast Wednesday afternoon or evening, including:

▪ King

▪ Duke

▪ Carteret (near the Chocolate Tree store).

“We do think it’s going to be a storm of some measure,” Pugliese says.

The city is prepared, he says.

Dominion Energy removes a hazard tree at the corner of Depot and Riboad roads Tuesday morning in preparation of Hurrican Idalia, which is expected to reach South Carolina as a tropical storm.
Dominion Energy removes a hazard tree at the corner of Depot and Riboad roads Tuesday morning in preparation of Hurrican Idalia, which is expected to reach South Carolina as a tropical storm.

At tidal gates in two basins in the Mossy Oaks neighborhood, floats have been pulled, meaning that water can only go out with the tide and no tidal surge can come into the basins.

Public Works officials have assessed ponds and ditches to determine which ones need to have water lowered before the storm hits.

Many residents of the Mossy Oaks area are out removing debris from the ditches that could cause them to overflow. “That’s exactly what we want to see,” Pugliese said. Residents of this area, Pugliese noted, “are veterans of these types of events.”

Dominion Energy workers were cutting hazardous tree limbs that could interfere with power lines during the storm.

“Everybody is pulling together in the Lowcountry,” Pugliese said.

Beaufort officials were closely watching a potential collision of high tide and heavy rains/high winds. High tide in Beaufort is expected at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. “We could be expecting some issues Wednesday night,” Pugliese said.

In recent years, the city has spent millions upgrading its stormwater system in areas susceptible to flooding from king tides, heavy rains and tropical storms and hurricanes, with more projects in the works, to better protect areas prone to flooding. That includes a $10 million upgrade in the Mossy Oaks area that was completed in 2021.

“I think we will see a workout of the system,” Pugliese said.

But Pugliese says the Mossy Oaks upgrade was designed to handle a storm of Idalia’s magnitude.

Abraham Saunderson and Hope Tolman remove plants from the porch at The Lowcountry Cide Company and Superior Coffee in Beaufort Tuesday morning in preparation for Hurricane Idalia, which is expeted to be a tropical storm by the time it reaches the city Wednesday.
Abraham Saunderson and Hope Tolman remove plants from the porch at The Lowcountry Cide Company and Superior Coffee in Beaufort Tuesday morning in preparation for Hurricane Idalia, which is expeted to be a tropical storm by the time it reaches the city Wednesday.